Is there any note that you are particularly sensitive to?

I've sampled a fragrance and one particular note comes to the top, front-and-center above all others.

Occasionally I've sampled a series of fragrances and that very same note comes to the top. It's like my nose has hyperfocus on a particular note, and if it detects it in any decent quantity, it will focus on that note to the detriment of the complexity of the scent.

Re: Is there any note that you are particularly sensitive to?

Amber will actually come to the top if I put it on my skin; my chemistry pulls it all to the forefront at the expense of the entire rest of the scent. (Tauer's L'Air du Desert Marocain, on me? AMMMMMBBBEEEERRRRRR!)

The other one I know for sure is musk (or "musk" -- real deer musk, which I smelled once years ago, was not like that) -- almost all perfumes with any kind of significant musk content smell overwhelmingly like soap to me, on or off the skin. Light musk = guest soap, "dirty" musk = old-school Ivory or hand-made unscented lye soap. Spoils a lot of otherwise promising scents.

I don't like the "aquatic" note, which sometimes seems to define the mass-market male fragrance shelves. (Also, aquatic why? What is it supposed to smell like, other than "blue-toned ad copy"? It doesn't smell like any water or water-associated thing I've ever encountered.) There's also fake fruit smells, particularly berry and melon, which will ruin almost anything for me.

Re: Is there any note that you are particularly sensitive to?

One or more synthetic white musks end up being really loud and "screechy" to me (somewhat similar in effect to smelling the chlorine from a pool or, strangely, cat litter). Sadly the note then overwhelms a composition. I've found this in vintage M7, Ambre 114, and the latest version of Guerlain Vetiver. :-(

Re: Is there any note that you are particularly sensitive to?

I'm not sure if I'm allergic or what, but there might be something/some things in 'F by Ferragamo pour Homme Black' and 'Jaguar Vision' that irritates my nose to where I can feel like sneezing.

To perhaps further help pinpoint the type of smell, I just recently got in Gucci Guilty Intense Pour Homme, and it seems kind of similar to the particular note(s) in 'F by Ferragamo pour Homme Black'; BUT, it doesn't go as far as to irritate me. It's like a.. higher quality of that note(s)?

Re: Is there any note that you are particularly sensitive to?

Some of the new synthetic musks cause my sinus to close up. Its an immediate reaction and I know when to withdraw from them but I don't which they are. I don't think they use chemical names of these things when they are disclosed as a note - it will say "musk" and if it is vey new - look out. White musks and animalic musks - no problem. The new synthetic sueded soft fuzzy musks just close me up totally.

Re: Is there any note that you are particularly sensitive to?

Originally Posted by insomniac

I've sampled a fragrance and one particular note comes to the top, front-and-center above all others.

Occasionally I've sampled a series of fragrances and that very same note comes to the top. It's like my nose has hyperfocus on a particular note, and if it detects it in any decent quantity, it will focus on that note to the detriment of the complexity of the scent.

I hear you and feel your pain OP!! I have the same issue with lavender. I really like it, don't get me wrong, but in strong doses particularly and in other cosmetics or products with fragrance (e.g. shaving soap) I am unable to tolerate it. Makes me sneeze these days which I think could be a sign of hay fever. It's only with a certain type though so I am not too concerned. A few summers ago the lavender in a certain part of my city, I became quite sensitive to the flowers and grass (yet it's never happened anywhere else in the UK to me!).